Lightning strikes 15th Century castle on Isle of Skye

A bolt of lightning has destroyed part of 15th Century Castle Moil on the Isle of Skye.

Castle Moil on Skye was hit by lightning. PIC: Creative Commons.

One of the remaining walls of the ruined stronghold, the traditional seat of Clan Mackinnon, was seriously damaged during the storm on Wednesday.

Reverend Duncan Barwise, a Church of Scotland minister from Canada who is working in Kyle for six months, told the West Highland Free Press of the impact of the storm on the castle, also known as Caisteal Maol.

The minister told the newspaper: “There were a lot of lightning flashes and then the floodlights around the castle went out – it was quite extraordinary.”

The ruin’s missing masonry is clearly visible in photographs of the storm damage.

Meanwhile, Robert Ireland, manager of the Kings Arms Hotel at Kyleakin, told the Press and Journal of the “worst hail I’ve ever seen” on the night of the storm.

He said: “I spotted a few flashes of lightning over Kyle but didn’t expect to see what I did. Within one second of filming I captured a huge fork of lightning.”